


Inscient Instance

by Laurasauras



Category: Homestuck
Genre: Alternate Universe - Guardianswap (Homestuck), Aspectswap
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2019-04-13
Updated: 2019-10-08
Packaged: 2020-01-12 15:54:18
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: Graphic Depictions Of Violence
Chapters: 3
Words: 7,702
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/18449798
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Laurasauras/pseuds/Laurasauras
Summary: On April 13, 2019, Jade Egbert turns 13 and she leads her friends to play a game that will change the world.





	1. ==> Jade: Wake up.

**Author's Note:**

> This one got _hells_ of out of control. I hope you guys like it!

It’s your birthday! You’ve been looking forward to your birthday for what feels like your whole life! You know that’s not quite true, and you’d feel a bit silly thinking that if it was just a regular birthday (you’re a bit old for that now!) but it’s not. Today is the day you play the most important game in existence. Today is the day you save the world.

You still don’t know if you entirely believe it, but you love your friends more than anything and John is pretty certain about this. He isn’t one to lie, either, you don’t even know if he knows _how_ to. He doesn’t tell you everything you want to know, but that’s more because he doesn’t like his visions and it’s not that hard for him to avoid them. You’d be so much better off in his position, but that’s not how the world works!

What you do have is the most important stuff. You know that it all happens today, that it’s going to be hard, but that you’re going to make a difference. You’re going to make your dad proud. You’re going to be a hero.

Just as soon as the mail gets here. 

You’re going to check your messages while you wait. You’re really looking forward to finding out if your friends have sent you anything for your birthday!

tacticalTautologist [TT] has begun pestering evolutionaryBalderdash [EB]

TT: okay please tell me your present got there today  
TT: i do not want to start beef with the postal system on your behalf but i will go there  
TT: i will march the fuck down to the queen of postage and give her a piece of my mind and also a big fat steak because i gotta work that beef analogy in there but dw its not like she wants the steak she knows its an invitation to throw down shes a smart lady  
TT: yeah the monarch of postage is a woman this is a progressive society  
TT: also i think my moms got me some kinda fucked up cause whenever i think about an authority figure i literally picture her  
TT: do not tell strider that or i will kill you and display the remains in a jar  
EB: oh my god dave!!!!!  
EB: this is why she plays therapist with you so much! you make it too easy!!  
TT: your butt makes it too easy  
TT: did you get your present or what egbert im on the edge of my goddamn seat over here  
TT: risking falling precariously off that’s how on the edge of my seat i am  
EB: i dont know :(  
EB: i just woke up i havent checked the post yet  
TT: get on it for real  
TT: i put hells of effort into your gift and if youre right about this game then you need it  
EB: you should assume im right about everything ever :D  
EB: though i dont know if it is today after all now ...  
EB: i know john said it was but hes not exactly that devoted to the whole seeing the future schtick :(  
EB: and i haven’t seen cam for a few days and its not like him to leave if something cool is happening  
EB: and i havent got my copy yet and it was supposed to come three days ago!!  
TT: well shit id send you one of mine  
TT: i can barely fuckin move for all the copies of this dumb game ive got  
TT: but we cant trust that bitch at the postal service with anything amiright?  
EB: why have you got so many???  
TT: my moms insane  
TT: i vaguely mention that i want a thing and suddenly im tits deep in the thing  
TT: shes awesome  
EB: if you say so??  
EB: i dont see how having more copies of the game will be helpful though :S  
TT: at the moment theyre being extremely fucking helpful  
TT: ive made forts for all my dead shit with them like theyre playing cards or something  
TT: wanna see?  
EB: obviously!!!  
[TT] has sent file welcometomycrib.png  
EB: sooooo coooool!!!!!  
EB: what are you even going to do with all that cool?  
TT: probs pass it out to my chump friends like the magnanimous bastard that i am  
EB: so generous!!!! :D  
TT: okay lets stop being idiots and lets you go find your bday prez  
EB: i would have gone so much sooner if you hadnt been talking to me so much!!!  
TT: count yourself lucky you have my attention  
TT: no im joking im gonna lay down some legit sincerity here right now for you and consider it a one of a kind dave lalonde special  
TT: only cause its your bday  
TT: im absolutely the lucky one here  
TT: happy birthday jade  
EB: <333333

tacticalTautologist [TT] ceased pestering evolutionaryBalderdash [EB]

Talking to Dave always gives you the best kind of warm fuzzies. All your friends do, really. It’s one of the main reasons why you’re so excited for today to get started! There’s nothing you want more than to meet them.

Dave isn’t the only one pestering you, it seems like Rose has noticed you’re online too. 

tokenGarrotic [TG] has begun pestering evolutionaryBalderdash [EB]

TG: Good morning, Jade.  
EB: hi rose!  
TG: Now that the sun has caught up with your neck of the woods, are you going to continue with your plan to draw us all into a game with unimaginable consequences?  
EB: its barely morning! i havent gone downstairs yet to see if the mail is here :(  
TG: Barely morning, you say, as if I don’t have a clock on my desktop displaying your local time.   
TG: It’s strange how you all forget I keep track of that.  
EB: i feel so unprepared for everything all of a sudden …  
EB: we’ve been working towards this for ages, but i still feel like we need more time!!  
TG: I think that’s the case with almost any event much anticipated.   
TG: Time isn’t the thing we’re in short supply of, it’s information.   
TG: I haven’t been able to get a hold of John today, have you heard from him?  
EB: no but i havent tried! im talking to you!!  
TG: I’m your sole focus? Jade, you’ll make me blush.  
TG: Regardless, I’ve been wanting to pick his mind about certain things and despite my clock keyed into his island and my other clock keyed into his habits, he’s not been available during the expected times this past week, at least.  
EB: now you mention it i havent heard from him in a while either!  
EB: do you think hes okay??  
TG: He lives in a dangerous place, but he’s more than capable of handling himself. I think it’s much more likely that there’s something psychological in play.  
TG: What about your other source, have you heard from him?  
EB: no :(  
EB: cams not the most reliable guy anyway  
EB: i think he kinda forgets about me if he drops out of the habit of talking to me  
TG: Men.  
EB: amen sister!!  
EB: are you organised and ready?  
TG: As organised as I can be, I think.  
EB: i guess your bro trained you for this didnt he!  
TG: His training has been very helpful.   
TG: I wouldn’t give him all the credit, though.   
TG: Despite the fact that he is undeniably a strong presence in my life, I like to think I’ve been pulling the strings for a while now.   
EB: wow rose how do you even cope with being SO cool?  
TG: It’s a heavy burden.   
TG: Lucky I’m so strong.  
TG: Perhaps I’ll let you feel a bicep when we meet.  
EB: hahaha!  
EB: im so excited to finally see you!  
TG: Yeah. Me too.   
EB: okay! im going to go check the mail now!  
TG: Good luck.  
TG: And Jade?  
EB: yeah?  
TG: Happy birthday.  
EB: <333333

tokenGarrotic [TG] ceased pestering evolutionaryBalderdash [EB]

You stand up decisively and move to your wardrobe. You were so excited to check your messages that you didn’t get dressed first! Dressing’s never really an ordeal for you, you tend to wear the same thing most days. You run your hands over the different materials, wondering if maybe you should make some kind of effort. 

The shirt you choose is actually one that John got you. He knows you don’t care that much, but he also thought it would suit you, so it makes you extra happy to wear it. You think you need that kind of energy today! The picture on the front is a blue beaker, because he knows how much you love science!

That done, you make sure you have your hankies up your sleeve and your deck of cards in your pocket and head downstairs.

You go straight for the front door without searching for your dad, because mail takes priority! Sadly, the mailman hasn’t been yet, so you walk back inside. You go into the kitchen and find that your dad has left the voice recorder in its special spot. You click play.

‘Jade. As it is your birthday, I have allowed you to sleep in. I have been called into work, but I will be home by lunchtime. There is cake on the table. I am so proud of the young woman you have become.’

You smile. You wish your dad didn’t have to work, but you get it. He works really hard! You take the recorder and put it in your sylladex. Maybe you’ll think of something silly to record on it before he gets home.

You take a knife and cut a slice of cake. You think about it for a moment, and decide the knife is a pretty good tool as well. You have a jokerkind specibus, just like your dad, so you can use almost anything as a weapon. Your dad says you’re really good at thinking creatively.

You take the slice of cake and as you eat it you wonder what else would be useful to cram in your sylladex before the game arrives. Rose has probably had hers planned for weeks, and Dave’ll choose based on his whims and it’ll turn out fine as usual. John you can’t come close to predicting. You guess what you end up with is what you’ll end up with. 

There’s going to be a lot today that isn’t going to go to plan. You think you’re going to have to learn to go with the flow. 

If your dad checked the mail before he went out, he’d put it in the mail basket near the front door, so you decide to check that next. Once you’ve made sure it’s empty (and really, when you were little you charted the mail-carrier’s daily arrival time for a month, you knew it would be) you decide to see if there are presents around.

Your dad having to work is nothing new. And he’d never let you go too long on your birthday without giving you _something_. It’s just about finding it. He’s a tricky man, but if you go about it methodically, you’ll find something!

You start with the lounge. You squint at the mantlepiece as you run your fingers over the parts you can’t see, but you don’t think it’s likely. Small boxes with jewelry or whatever don’t seem your style or your dad’s.

You almost knock you nanna’s ashes over when you get to them, but you steady them just in time! You thought they were usually more to the right … 

You reorient yourself, and find that the couch has been moved slightly, it’s thrown off your bearings. Which _could_ mean that your dad was vacuuming and didn’t put it back properly, but you think it’s more likely …

You kick over the couch dramatically and it flips onto its back. Underneath is a long, flat box. You clap your hands excitedly before crouching down and running your hands over it. Another recording device!

‘Jade. If you have found this, you are truly an excellent detective. I am so proud of you. Happy birthday.’

You grin and open the box.

‘A suit?’ you wonder aloud.

You’ve never had a suit before. You like dresses or shirts that go with plain jeans or shorts, things that you don’t have to worry about matching. You’ve got a gadget that tells you what colours things are, but you don’t really know what _goes_ , and a lot of the rules seem counter-intuitive. 

A suit goes with itself. It’s pretty grown up.

You pull out your colour gadget and press it to the fabric.

‘#D3D3D3.’

That’s the same hex reading that you get off your dad’s suits. Is he going to let you go to work with him!? You have to tell Rose!

evolutionaryBalderdash [EB] has begun pestering tokenGarrotic [TG]

EB: rose  
EB: dad got me a suit  
TG: Interesting.  
TG: What kind?  
EB: i think its the same as his  
EB: just smaller duh  
EB: should i put it on  
TG: I trust you’ve checked it for traps.  
EB: oh  
EB: youre right this would be a perfect opportunity for a joke  
TG: Is he wanting you to follow in his footsteps, do you think?  
EB: maybe  
EB: or encouraging me in my own way  
EB: i dont think forensic scientists would wear suits like pis but maybe they would underneath their labcoats  
TG: Presumably there is something underneath the labcoats, yes.  
EB: maybe he wants me to do both!  
EB: like bones!  
TG: Bones McCoy? From Star Trek?  
EB: no  
EB: actually yes  
EB: can you imagine being a cool doctor on a spaceship  
TG: Not even remotely.  
TG: Captain, however …  
EB: swoooooon  
TG: You’ll give me a big head.  
TG: I won’t fit into my captain’s hat.   
TG: Actually, Kirk never wore a hat. His hair was too beautiful.  
TG: We have that in common.  
EB: okay this is getting silly  
EB: i need to investigate the rest of the house for presents  
TG: Good luck.  
TG: Would you like me to message you to remind you to check the mail?  
EB: yes please

evolutionaryBalderdash  [EB]  ceased pestering tokenGarrotic  [TG]

You feel through the lines of the suit, looking for booby traps. You don’t think your dad would _actually_ booby trap your present, but it’s hard to know sometimes. He sure has worked hard to raise a girl who can think for herself!

There’s a lot of secret pockets, but you know they aren’t traps. They’re for your magic tricks! You’re still learning, slight of hand is difficult for you. You tape your practices and send them to your friends sometimes, and your dad helps you a lot. 

It doesn’t bother you, being blind. You still have a bit of vision, enough to see vague shapes, and your glasses help a bit, but you’ve been legally blind since you were really little, so you’ve grown up learning how to navigate the world. You have a lot of gadgets to help you as well!

You’re trying really hard not to worry about what it’ll mean for the game. You haven’t told your friends, even though they know you use text to speech and that’s why your words come out a bit clunky and minus punctuation and smileys if you’re not at your computer where you can feel the keys and type. You don’t want them to worry about you or tell you that you can’t play because you can’t see. 

But you’re capable! You can do anything a person with normal vision can! More than some! Cam believes in you too, but that’s what imaginary friends are for. You’re probably a bit old for an imaginary friend, but you think maybe you need him. 

You wish he was here.

You hear the sound of pesterchum from your phone and open it up. John’s messaging you!

geognosticGad [GG] has begun pestering evolutionaryBalderdash [EB] 

GG: happy birthday!  
EB: thanks  
EB: big smiley face  
GG: i’m probably not gonna be around a lot today.  
GG: got lots of diving to do, you know how it is.  
EB: not really hehe  
EB: but john the game is today  
GG: yeah, i don’t think i’m gonna play that.  
EB: what  
GG: i know you’re really excited and it’s your birthday so you should have a nice day!  
GG: but i can’t play, jade, i just can’t.  
GG: i don’t want anything to do with the game and it won’t let me be but i can refuse to play, i can just act like everything’s normal so i’m gonna do that.  
EB: john   
EB: you have to play or you’ll die  
GG: well yeah, that’s what the game says but maybe it’s wrong.  
GG: and you know, people die all the time.  
GG: i’m just gonna go about my day, and if a meteor happens then that sucks but honestly there’s not much i can do about meteors, just like every other day.  
EB: but you can do something  
EB: john you can’t just stagnate  
EB: you have to play  
EB: and more than that, you have to play for us!  
EB: maybe you dont care about surviving the end of the world and getting to see your grandpa again and getting to meet your friends  
EB: which is crazy because you do care about those things a whole lot!  
EB: but even if you dont you still have to play because we cant play without you  
GG: you don’t need me!  
GG: that’s insane, why would you need some crazy jungle boy?  
GG: look, whatever, i was just wishing you a happy birthday.

geognosticGad [GG] ceased pestering evolutionaryBalderdash [EB] 

You bite your lip anxiously. You need to get John on board. He can be really stubborn! You have tried to push him towards things in the past and it rarely works. You think the best thing to do for now is to give him some space.

It’s hard, though. It’s hard to know that your friend is out there, thinking thoughts that probably aren’t good for him and probably aren’t true and you could be helping. 

You pick up your new suit and its box and heft it into your sylladex, no longer motivated to search the house for any other presents your dad may have hidden. It’s time to start thinking like a leader.

You reach your room and change into your suit. You’re not sure if you can move your arms quite as much, but it’s pretty soft for a suit and it’s tailored to you. Your dad wouldn’t do less. You press your colour sensor to the tie before you tie it and it tells you it’s blue. You grin in spite of your new, more determined mood. 

Your phone chimes again and you sit at your desk where you can actually see and type rather than relying on the less precise speech to text.

tacticalTautologist [TT] has begun pestering evolutionaryBalderdash [EB]

TT: hey jade  
TT: not to be a total fucking bummer  
TT: but today has just got a bit complicated  
EB: oh no!!!  
EB: whats happened?  
TT: gonna go vague on the answer and say mom shit  
EB: is everything okay?  
TT: nah  
TT: but also yeah  
TT: whichever  
TT: i know you were super psyched to play this game and all and i am 100% behind you you know me i support my gals  
TT: i just gotta take care of some shit over here  
TT: can you manage without me?  
TT: maybe i could join in later  
EB: well im certainly not leaving you behind!  
EB: but of course dave  
EB: take all the time you need  
TT: thanks  
EB: im here if you need to talk <3  
TT: youre a sweetheart  
TT: imma bounce but good luck with everything

tacticalTautologist [TT] ceased pestering evolutionaryBalderdash [EB]

Almost the second you close Dave’s window, a new one pops up. 

tokenGarrotic [TG] has begun pestering evolutionaryBalderdash [EB]

TG: This is a reminder to check your mailbox.  
EB: rose help!  
TG: What’s wrong?  
EB: nothings going to plan :(  
TG: There was a plan?  
EB: yeah!   
EB: i was going to get the game  
EB: you were going to connect to me and then dave was going to connect to you and john would connect to him and id close the loop  
EB: and i know you have the game so if i was to check the mailbox now and find it we could start and maybe it would all work out  
EB: but dave cant play and john wont  
EB: and i am really worried that if we leave them for last then they just wont!!!  
EB: i know you guys dont believe this is the end of the world in the same way i do  
EB: not even john and hes the one who convinced me  
EB: but this is super important!!  
EB: and i cant make anyone do anything they dont want to do even if that was an okay thing to do!!  
TG: That is a concern.  
EB: its a bit more than a concern!!!!  
TG: Jade, breathe.   
TG: It’s all going to be okay.  
TG: We’ve got you at the helm.   
EB: i thought you were the captain  
TG: I always identified more with Spock, anyway.  
EB: okay well if that makes me kirk then you have to give me the good advice  
TG: Gladly.  
TG: Your instincts are uncannily good, Jade.   
TG: Trust them.   
TG: You don’t want us to get into the game straight away lest we leave the boys behind.   
TG: Who is next, then?

You tap your fingers against the desk and try to think about this logically. Except Rose said to trust your gut. 

You might have just told Dave he can have time to deal with his mom, but you know if you ask him sincerely to help you out, he will. 

And John might be almost impossible to bully, but there’s some wiggle room there. As the most isolated of the four of you, he has a lot to gain from this.

Though maybe Rose is the right choice. Maybe the important thing is entering the game quickly.

Through your open window, you hear the sound of your dad’s car pulling into the driveway, and then the distinctive clang of the metal door of the mailbox falling shut. He has the mail.

It’s time to make a choice.


	2. ==> Jade: Hoot like an owl and draw on your suit.

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Months in the past, but not many ...

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Oh my goodness, it's literally been two months since I started this! Talk about best laid plans! I hope future updates will be more frequent, and _thank you so much_ to those who commented suggestions on the last chapter!

Sometimes you get the strangest impulses. This is one of the strangest, though! 

You don’t even own a suit! You don’t think many 12-year-olds do, unless they’re going to a funeral or something. You can’t wait to have one of your own, though. You don’t care that much about fashion, but when your dad takes you for your first suit fitting, you know that will be his way of saying you’re a real grown up. Ready for the world.

Of course, you’re plenty ready for the world _now!_ But it’ll mean something special when he knows that too.

Your bedroom is quiet in a way it only is early in the morning, before the sounds of your various machines start up and fill the space with an ambient hum, before you put on music or talk to your friends. 

Today is just like any other day, and as you are on many of them, you are filled with this strange empty feeling, like you’re waiting for something important to happen and everything that has happened to you so far has just been a practice run at life. 

The silence presses more insistently at your ears until only the sound of your heartbeat is there to convince you that you haven’t lost your hearing as well as your vision. You take quiet, deep breaths, not daring to make them loud and cover up the sound of the world, until you finally hear the sound of your neighbours car door slam shut, and the spell is broken. 

You just need to have a goal, that’s all. That will make the feeling go away.

==> Get the mail before something weird happens!!!

Well! First things first, you might as well check the mail. You ordered a rock polishing kit online and it was supposed to come a few days ago. You’re starting to suspect that either your postman has something against you or that something along the line is messing with your deliveries, because it’s been months since the shipping predictions have been accurate.

Maybe you can do an investigation! You’ll go with the funner hypothesis that the mailman has a vendetta, but you’ll say it’s against your dad because you’ve never met the guy and you’re a 12-year-old girl, so it’d be weird if it was against you, personally. 

Your dad on the other hand is _suspiciously_ normal. Like almost _exactly_ the kind of person no one would suspect of having a nemesis in the postal system. He’s obviously covering his tracks very well! But a cunning magician-scientist-detective like you will solve the case!

Of course you don’t really think your dad has any enemies. It’s just fun to pretend. 

evolutionaryBalderdash  [EB]  has begun pestering tokenGarrotic  [TG]

EB: i have an hypothesis!   
TG: While gramatically correct, the rule that one can use ‘an’ before a ‘h’ word provided it has three syllables or more is so distasteful I don’t think I can listen to your hypothesis if you do that again.   
EB: thats what all the journals do :(   
TG: It’s old-fashioned and I predict it will be properly phased out within the decade. If not, I am more than happy to personally take it up with the Council of Dictionarymen.   
EB: thats not a real thing!!   
TG: Ah, so you say, but you don’t know for certain, do you? Every year words are added and removed from the dictionary, do you really believe that that decision is soley in the hands of the editor of Oxford’s?   
TG: No, there is a council.    
TG: It is very prestigious.    
TG: I have heard robes are involved.   
EB: i cant believe i started this conversation to talk about how im prettu ditr ,u fsf od s bo;;som and you made it even weirder than it had to be!!   
TG: Jade, you slipped to the side of your keyboard again.    
EB: oops :(   
TG: I can figure it out from context, I’m an excellent codebreaker.    
TG: You’re pretty sure your dad is a villain?   
EB: my mail is aaaalways late!   
TG: Naturally, your father is involved somehow. The scoundrel.   
EB: weelll i was more thinking that he has become entangled in some kind of affair   
TG: Romantic?   
EB: ew!!! no!!!   
TG: I would not throw your father out of bed, Jade.   
EB: omg rose no i can never speak to you again!!!!!!   
TG: I’m teasing. Mostly.    
EB: how would you feel if i was to hit on your bro???   
TG: Firstly, I have never hit on your father directly.   
TG: Secondly, I’d seriously question your judgement.    
TG: Thirdly, I don’t think he’d even notice. He doesn’t have anything resembling a life.   
TG: His best friends are me and a puppet.    
TG: All he does is teach me how to be completely fucking awesome.    
TG: And host the occasional tea party, I suppose.   
EB: i can not picture your bro hosting a tea party   
TG: It’s our main non-combat bonding activity.   
TG: I’m really getting too old for it, but I don’t think he has any idea how to interact with me otherwise so I don’t mind.   
TG: For the record, I think my bro being involved in postal shenanigans is infinitely more likely than your father.   
EB: yeah i dont really think he is   
EB: im just frustrated about the mail!!   
TG: Yes, I can imagine. As a hermit’s sister, I’m rather dependent on the fact that you can order almost anything online.   
TG: What are you expecting, by the way?   
EB: a rock polishing kit!   
TG: Oh lord. Are you really on geology of all things now?   
EB: theres nothing wrong with sampling from all the sciences!   
EB: you never know what field will catch your eye!!   
TG: Don’t settle on geology, Jade.   
TG: A geologically themed magician would be ridiculous.   
EB: and a biologically themed magician wouldn’t be??   
EB: a theoretical physics themed magician???   
EB: a mathematically themed magician????   
TG: Ah, I see the problem here.   
TG: It’s the science, it’s altogether incompatible with the majesty of magic.    
EB: roooooooose   
TG: Jade, I cannot in good conscience continue to encourage your scientific applications.   
TG: We all know that your future lies in distributing comical numbers of handkerchiefs and misdirecting pretty ladies from a coin that was behind her ear the whole time.    
EB: i dont know why i talk to you   
TG: You love me.    
TG: I have to go, Bro’s setting up another tea party and he always uses the wrong china. He must be supervised.   
EB: youre so weird!! <3

tokenGarrotic [TG] ceased pestering evolutionaryBalderdash [EB]

You grin to yourself and hover your mouse over your pesterchum windows, wondering if you want to bother another friend before you brave downstairs and the postage system. You decide that if you check first, then you’ll have something to report to the boys anyway! You push your chair away from your desk and get decidedly to your feet. 

You nearly run straight into Cam, but you’re not _that_ blind. Also he’s incorporeal, being imaginary. You both laugh at your clumsiness.

‘Hi Jade!’ he says. ‘Am I interrupting anything?’

‘Duh!’ you tell him. ‘You couldn’t choose a single moment in my life when I wasn’t about to do something exceptional! But I’ll put off my awesome plans and play video games with you if you _really_ want me to.’

Cam punches the air in exaggerated enthusiasm and you grin at him. But first …

==> Jade: ~~Quickly retrieve arms from~~ Cause a clever DISTACTION to grab the mail and get the beta, your friends are counting on you!

You duck under Cam’s arms and grab a spare _magic wand_ , causing a collision in your sylladex with your _jumble of magic wands_ and raining shitty plastic from everywhere. While Cam’s distracted, you make a break for it, running down the stairs.

He’s already waiting for you when you get to the front door of course, bouncing on his toes in excitement for whatever is so important to you. If you were being honest, you were mostly just practicing. If John’s dreams are right, you need all the practice you can get. 

‘What’s in the mail?’ he asks. 

‘A rock polishing kit,’ you say.

‘Why would anyone polish a rock?’ he asks. ‘They live in the ground?’

You ignore him, because he’s mostly winding you up. You open the mailbox and feel inside it with your hand. Nothing there. Again. Stupid mail-carrier having a grudge against your dad.

‘Cam, there’s clearly a conspiracy!’ you announce.

‘What, to keep you from digging up the backyard?’

‘The mail used to be better than this!’

‘In the good ol’ days?’ he teases. 

You push at him. He kindly allows himself to have a physical body so that your hands don’t go right through him, but when Cam’s not made of nothing he’s _sturdy_ so it doesn’t do any good. 

‘Okay, video games,’ you tell him. ‘Dad got me a new one! Well, an old one. It’s based off Hitchhikers, but they’ve converted it into a voice activated thing so that you can get frustrated at not getting the exact correct phrases out loud rather than on a keyboard.’

==> John: Introduce yourself

You stop being Jade so that you can be someone else instead. 

Your name is John Harley and you are so alone. 

_Wow_ , what a depressing introduction! It’s not that bad, really. You have your best friend, Becquerel, and you have pretty reliable Internet, which you use to talk to your other three best friends, and when you go to sleep there are just _hundreds_ of people to talk to. Gesture at. Whatever, they’re really nice! Which is probably why you spend so much of your time asleep.

When you’re awake, you occupy yourself with a variety of _interests_. Your room is full of colour, some from the various things you’ve scavenged from wreck sites and corals, others from home-made paint. You have an eye for the aesthetic, and pride yourself on giving really good presents. You just sent off some of said presents yesterday, with the help of your magical doggy guardian, because two of your friends have birthdays coming up. 

You live in a giant house filled with various _things_ , some of which are _deeply disturbing_ and others which are _okay, you guess_. Your grandpa sure had a lot of interests, even if you maybe don’t. You’re not hiding the fact that he’s dead and stuffed in front of your fireplace. Obviously that’s where he is. 

You don’t particularly like thinking about the circumstances of his death, or the way you were obliged to preserve his body according to family tradition afterwards. You’d considered just burning him, but even back then you’d started having dreams, and you’ve only recently started wondering if you have to do what they say.

Your dreams used to be a refuge, not only a place where you could hang out with your carapacian friends, but also a source of comforting prophecy. When your tower dipped into Skaia’s clouds when you were little, it showed you how to find your friends, and that one day you’d meet them. It showed you all fighting, but towards the same goal. It felt like you were watching yourself become a superhero.

Lately you’ve noticed something disturbing about your visions, and you don’t want to think too hard about what it must mean. What you do know is how you get there, and you’re regretting ever telling your friends about the game the dreams say you’re going to play.

If you don’t play, you’ll never become the John in the visions. If you don’t play, everything will be okay. 

You’ve started spending more and more time diving amongst the wrecks. Swimming almost feels like dreaming, but instead of seeing _that_ , you see cool, broken ships, with skeleton captains and buried treasure.

You can’t spend all day zoning out in your room and thinking about things that you occasionally occupy yourself with!

What will you do?


	3. ==> John: Resist the urge to play

You put away your computer carefully. You have an entire island to explore and your grandpa always taught you to leave your computers in the house where they belong. There’s no message important enough to stop the thrill of adventure! You’re done with being accessible for today. 

Jade almost made that old urge to play the game come back, but you’re more than capable of resisting it. You don’t want to disappoint your friend on her birthday, but it’s really for the best if you don’t play. 

You make sure your sylladex is well stocked, grab your boomerang, and head out the door. You whistle and Bec phases into being next to you so you can race him down to the shore. He keeps an eye on you while you dive, sitting on the bottom of the ocean where nothing really matters. Sometimes you rescue things from wrecks or collect coral, but mostly you just like the feeling of the water pressing in on you, the feeling like the world is enormous and connected through the sea.

Even when your friends urge you to take a computer with you against your grandpa’s advice, you can’t really hear underwater. It’s just nice to be unreachable. You lie on your back in the shallow waves and let them fall gently over you, holding your breath when there’s a big one but just _being_. It’s peaceful. Bec stands next to you, panting slightly. 

Much better than any silly game. You like your island just fine, anyway.

==> Cam: Return in the present!

You cannot be Cam because Cam doesn’t exist right now! 

And what an ambiguous statement. Time isn’t remotely a thing that affects the imaginary, which is something we are asking everyone to believe about Cam. He’s not lying for any nefarious reasons, it’d just take so long to explain and honestly, who has the patience? 

So yeah, Cam _could_ guide Jade through a tumultuous day that he has some experience in, but Jade’s actually very capable. She can manage on her own. It might even make her stronger! The word “canon” gets thrown around a lot these days, but let’s all acknowledge that we’re pretty far adrift from even the most generous definitions. 

Yeah, we’re not going to see Cam anytime soon. He’ll come back to our session when he’s good and ready to.

…

How about we visit someone a little more reliable …

==> Rose: Punch Bro.

Now there’s a mystical impulse you are more than okay with following. 

Unfortunately, your Bro is a wiley and paranoid creature, so if you expect to get a hit in, you’re going to have to prepare. Your stringkind specibus, while versatile, is not going to be helpful in this situation. 

Perhaps you could use some backup. Someone with a guardian just as vexing as your own.

tokenGarrotic [TG] has begun pestering tacticalTautologist [TT]

TG: I am in need of your tactical services.   
TT: oh snap   
TT: you know i am always down to help   
TT: thats my main jam im just walking ladies across the road and tutoring children all damn day   
TG: I thought you lived in the woods.   
TT: maybe the ladies are geese   
TT: and the children are squirrels   
TT: they still need my assistance rose its in very high demand   
TT: this is so much sillier so much faster than our conversations usually go   
TT: what do you want?   
TG: I’ve been advised to punch my brother.   
TG: Naturally this sounds like the best idea anyone has ever had.   
TG: But it would be best to gain the element of surprise.   
TT: right ok   
TT: this might be an abuse of my excellent planning skills   
TT: could i perhaps interest you in something more along the party route   
TT: you could say it was for one of his weird puppets   
TG: As legitimately hilarious as that would be, and I do want to come back to that.   
TG: We have tea parties with alarming regularity as it is, and I have been advised to punch him.   
TT: by who   
TG: It remains to be seen.   
TG: Maybe by him, actually. It could be a challenge.   
TG: That would make it only more urgent.   
TT: orrr you could not play into his mind games   
TG: Please. If anything he’s playing *my* mind games.   
TG: Are you going to help me or not?   
TT: nah   
TT: my moms being kinda weird right now so   
TT: like i do want to help you sneak up on your psychotic brother and clock him while hes distracted by whatever it is that weve used as a distraction   
TT: but also i need to keep an eye on things here   
TG: What’s happening?   
TT: she just gets real sneaky sometimes   
TT: which is fucking ridiculous because its like what is she suddenly choosing to hide her drinking?   
TT: guess she could be doing harder stuff but i dont think thats it   
TT: whatever shes a secretive lady im not trying to pry or anything   
TT: but if i need to get my first aid on then like   
TT: i just gotta know you know   
TG: I don’t, and you shouldn’t have to.    
TG: I suspect if our positions were reversed I’d leave her to handle her own adult self.   
TG: But if you feel you need to be there for her of course I respect that.   
TT: its no big   
TG: My plotting to do harm to my guardian feels in poor taste now.   
TT: nah that dude straight up *needs* a punch in the face   
TT: you follow your striderian impulses   
TT: hit jade up maybe shell have some tip about misdirection   
TG: If I could distract him with a card trick, I would deserve pizza for a year.   
TG: Good advice.   
TT: you could message me later if you wanted   
TT: like im not in a position to wholeass the attention thing   
TT: but whatever   
TG: If you’re lucky.   
TG: (Of course.)

tokenGarrotic  [TG]  ceased pestering tacticalTautologist  [TT]

You’ll message Jade in a bit. First, you think you need to perform some reconnaissance. You lock your computer and look around your room. It’s a bit of a mess, admittedly. Your brother doesn’t bother you about keeping it clean, and you seem to have endless funds with which to exploit overnight shipping, so you’ve pursued a number of interests. 

You have a lot of _books,_ and items relating to your _morbid fascination with gothic writers._ Sometimes you sneak out and visit graveyards, and you have several _jars of gravedirt_ in which you have _completely failed to grow flowers._ You have a _string of plush friends, none of which resemble phalluses._ You keep your Bro’s interests clear from your room. 

You adjust your _signature shades,_ and cautiously step out into the hallway. No sign of your Bro. But he’s definitely here. The lounge is clear of him as well. You fall casually into his desk chair and spin around in it, the picture of not giving a shit. Maybe you’ll mess with his computer, but that would just be inviting him to do the same. No, these things require more thought. 

As he’s not napping or pretending to nap on his futon, you assume that he’s stuffed up in the crawl space somewhere. If he thinks you’re going to help him get all the dust off him … well, he’s probably right. You get pretty bored around here, on your own for all intents and purposes. 

You type in your Bro’s password and open Pesterchum on his computer, too lazy to go back to your own room. You spy a can of soda hidden behind the monitor and crack it in celebratory bliss. The picture of your carelessness is complete, and he won’t try and jumpscare you lest you ruin his computer. 

You almost message Jade, but she stopped replying to you about twenty minutes ago and you’re reluctant to push her any further on the subject of this game. It’s important to her and you think it’s probably important all around, but there are various aspects that John has let slip that make you cautious about entering into it. 

You’re prepared, obviously. You’ve been raised by the best, by which you mean your own damn self. You’ve allowed contributions from your Bro, you suppose. Certainly you wouldn’t be so adept at combat without him. And you can’t forget the C-man, obviously. Lil Cal has been your strange plush superfluous father figure for as long as you can remember. What a legend. You tell him he's your favourite all the time. Bro doesn't mind. He probably agrees.

You don’t remember John mentioning anything about mysterious commands, though. You think it’s time you messaged him.

tokenGarrotic  [TG]  has begun pestering geognosticGad  [GG]

TG: In some societies, it is considered rude to continuously ignore messages from a lady.  
TG: Or at the very least a sign of flagrant homosexuality.  
GG: blllllllllllluuuuuuuuuuuuuuuhhhhhhhhhhhhhhh.  
TG: And the gentleman replies. I am at ease once more!  
GG: you always know when i’m checking my phone even for the smallest second!  
GG: why are you so creepy!  
TG: Possibly I frequent too many graveyards.  
TG: Though I contend that that’s impossible.   
GG: what do you want?  
TG: If you’re truly not in the mood to talk, I can take my attentions elsewhere.  
GG: i’m sorry.  
GG: i’m just feeling a little crabby because of this game.  
TG: That’s what I wanted to ask you about.  
TG: You’re our main source of information, as we are taking your statements of dreaming in the game prior even to the game’s creation as fact until proven otherwise.  
TG: Well, you and Jade’s “special friend”.  
GG: i don’t even look out my window when my tower gets stupid and cloudy now.  
GG: i take my dumb yellow pajamas and go to the other side of prospit.  
TG: I’m not after new information. Just a clarification on what you have already shared.  
GG: fine.  
TG: You said that the game would have the power to bring things to life?   
GG: yeah.  
GG: that’s why i want to play so badly! i want my grandpa back!  
GG: he was the best, rose!  
GG: he knew everything there was to know about adventuring and he was friends with movie stars!  
GG: i guess it’s not gonna happen now though.  
TG: I don’t understand why you’ve changed your mind.   
GG: it’s these pain in the ass fucking clouds!  
GG: they used to show me all kinds of wonderful things.  
GG: and i guess they didn’t stop?  
GG: but i was too dumb or too little or whatever to realise what some of it meant.   
GG: and now the clouds are too dumb, because they keep showing me things i don’t want to see!  
GG: it’s like they don’t want me to play!  
TG: I know I’ve offered to listen before, but as it’s quite important today…  
TG: Would you like to talk about it?  
GG: no.  
GG: if i don’t want to know about it, then nobody else should have to.  
TG: A burden shared is not as heavy as one taken alone.  
GG: yeah, cause you’re so honest.  
TG: John.  
GG: can i just go back to swimming? Please?  
TG: You’re the one who has the most to gain from this.  
GG: i *know*.  
TG: But we all need it.  
TG: If you know more than I share, then you know that I might need it almost as much as you.  
GG: rose, this game is no good.  
GG: but i’ll think about it.  
TG: I’ll be able to get us out of anything you think we’re trapped into.   
TG: I don’t take orders from clouds.  
GG: heh.  
GG: okay.

tokenGarrotic [TG]  ceased pestering geognosticGad  [GG]

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Thank you for the prompts! Please keep them coming!!

**Author's Note:**

> It's open ended. I've written some things, but it's ultimately up to you how it goes! (It's up to me. I'm gonna choose the one I like best.) Please comment with what you'd like to happen next! You know how this goes.
> 
> EDIT: I forgot to include [this amazing art](http://themockingcrows.tumblr.com/post/183932028832/i-got-a-strong-urge-suddenly-to-draw-for) Ryn made for me! Look at how adorable Jade English is!


End file.
